Time to bake my own bread

The price of a loaf of fresh bread has been increase significantly.In the store today, you will see our regular flour or bread flour has a tag written*flour increase*.As for before,price for a loaf of bread is already very expensive to me.Some loafs of bread went from $2.00 to $2.80.These are the highest we have ever paid in our bakeshop.It’s an obvious picture here that the gas is one of the reason due to.There are a number of related issues to this but what can I do!Now I have to bake my own bread.That save a lot.I also notice that its not just the bread,everything has gone up in price too like milk and eggs.Although my bread doesn't look great but it's still taste good.After baking the bread and I used the left over bread dough for the plain steamed bun. My first batch of Pau doesn’t look impressive because the I set the heat too high and open the steamer cover too fast.You need to turn the fire to slow for 1 min then off the fire and let it cool down for 3 mintues before open the steamer cover or else the bun will look like on of this...see!

Recipe
Ingredients

Part 1
600g All purpose flour,sifted
240ml cold water
2 tsp Instant yeast

Part 2
1/2 tsp Salt
50g Castor sugar
70g Butter or Shortening

Method
(1)Knead Part 1 to form a dough called the sponge and let ferment in the bowl for 3-4 hours.

(2)Add Part 2 to the sponge and remix until a dough is formed.

(3)After few minutes of kneading add the shortening and knead until the a smooth dough is formed.

(4)Shape the dough and mould into the loaf pan.

(5)Cover dough with a piece of damp towel until double in bulk for about 45 minutes and bake at 360F .

For loaf of bread bake for 35-40 minutes.
For buns or rolls bake for 8-10 minutes(Approximately 12 buns per tray)

Dumpling Soup

Dough
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2-1 cup water
1 1/4 tsp. salt

Method
(1)Place the flour and salt in a large bowl.
(2)Slowly add water and mix with your hands.
(3)Knead the mixture until it forms a soft dough.
(4Kneaded the dough until very smooth.
(5)Divide dough into 50 small, equal pieces.
(6)Flatten each piece with your rolling pin to form a thin, round skin
approximately 3 inches in diameter.Like a wonton wrapper.

Filling
1 lb. ground pork
1/2 cup green onions, minced
1/4 cup ginger root, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup napa cabbage
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
1 egg, beaten

Method
(1)Combine the pork, ginger, garlic, green onion, soy sauce, cornstarch,
sesame oil, egg,sugar, garlic and cabbage.
(2)Stir until well mixed.Marinate for 10-15mintues.
(3)Place 1 tablespoon of pork filling onto each dumpling skin.
(4) Fold the wrapper edges up and pinch the edges together.

To Cook: You can make dumplings by boiling them in water,steaming or frying in a pan.

Steaming
-Place the dumplings in a steamer, cover and steam for 7-10 minutes.

Boiling
-To boil the dumplings, gently lower them into a pot of boiling water.
-Boil for 3 to 5 minutes.They're done when the dumplings are floating and cook
for about three minutes.
-Add chicken stock and salt to taste.
-Remove from pot carefully and serve hot with the your favourite dipping sauce.

Frying
-Cook till the bottoms are a nice golden about 1 minute
then add 2/3 cup of water all at once.
-Cover and cook(5-7min)until water has evaporated or till cooked.
-Remove from pan and served.

Tips
Dumplings are a lot of work, my mum in law make a lot.She freeze them uncooked and cook them up in small batches.Place them in a sealable freezer bag until you are ready to cook them.